Growing up ARC style!
by KissMeJamesYouGotItBlondie
Summary: This story follows the antics of the ARC kids, focusing on Nick and Claudia's mischievous daughter, Anna Louise Cutter.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Are you ready?" Becker asked the group behind him, who all nodded seriously. He nodded back at them, trying to suppress a smile at the expression of pure concentration on each face.

"On the count of three. One. One and a half. Two-hey, I said three!"

The children, however, had all gone storming into the Ops. Area armed with water guns, water bombs and buckets of water. Becker rolled his eyes, smiling, and followed them out. As soon as he enterred the room, he was sprayed from all directions. Wiping his eyes; he flicked his fringe out of his eyes to see his youngest daughter, little six year old Sophie, grinning a toothy grin.

"O-ho, turning on your daddy, huh?" He said, pumping his gun. Sophie giggled and ran off, further into the room. Becker made to follow, but before he'd gotten very far, he found himself drenched once again. Glancing to the left, he saw Jess holding a pink bucket and smiling, apologetically.

"Sorry, darling" She said, sweetly and Becker shook his hair, showering her. She giggled and hugged him, soaking herself in turn. Becker wrapped an arm around his wife and glanced around the Ops. Area.

There was Abby and Connor's nine year old daughter, Emma, who was in the middle of a duel with Anna Cutter, also nine, and Jess and Becker's eldest, Rachel, eight. Then there was Mollie, Jess and Becker's middle daughter, who was twirling around the Ops. Area in a world of her own, as usual. As soon as Christopher, Nick and Claudia's son, snuck up on her, however, she turned a water balloon she'd kept hidden on him and he ended up drenched, his dark hair dripping into his eyes.

Becker and Jess' middle daughter, Mollie, was chasing Abby and Connor's twin sons, Jake and Tommy, and Bradley Anderson around the room, slipping and sliding so much on the soaked floor that Becker was practically readying himself to hurry over to her when she fell over. As they all knew she would. Mollie had a thing for falling over. She spent most of her time flat on her face. Becker was adamant that she'd earned Jess' balance skills. Or, at least, Jess' none-existent balance skills.

Adam Cutter, Nick and Claudia's younger son was running around with a bucket on his head, threatening to go face first into whoever enterred his orbital path, and Ricky Quinn, Sarah and Danny's five year old son, was sitting in the corner, watching the scene with interest, laughing and launching water balloons at anyone who came too close. Little Isobelle Anderson was annoying him by creeping up and then hurriedly retreating before he could get her.

At that second, a door on the left side of the Ops. Area opened and in came Nick and Claudia, the latter carrying a miniature Anna in her arms.

"Gracie!" Anna said, running over to her parents and holding her arms out to her three year old sister. Claudia passed the little girl to Anna and kissed both of her daughters on the head before going to do the same to her sons and then following Nick over to Becker and Jess.

"I take my daughter to the dentist and you turn the place into a circus" Nick said, clapping the soldier on the back. Becker smirked as Jess began rounding up the children and Claudia left to get towels to dry them all with.

"Where're the others?" Nick asked, glancing around.

"Anomaly, about twenty minutes ago. You're intuitive little girl started asking questions, so Jess and I decided to distract them"

"Yeah, well, that's Anna alright."

"I know" Becker said, with a fond smile.

The door through which Nick, Claudia and Grace had come through opened again and there were numerous shouts of varied versions of "Mum" and "Dad".

Abby and Connor hugged Emma while Jake and Tommy play-fought close by and Sarah showered kisses on her little boys head as Danny ruffled his hair affectionately. Matt picked up his daughter as Bradley ran over to his mother and she hugged him.

"Just another day at the ARC" Claudia said, smiling as she passed, carrying a pile of fluffy, white towels. Soon, the Ops. Area was filled with the children sitting around, drinking mugs of hot chocolate, courtesy of Jenny, and their parents, looking down at them with expressions of pure adoration on their faces. Connor lifted Tommy into his arms as Emma and Jake tried to clamber onto Abby's lap at the same time.

"Daddy, can we play?" Tommy asked, and all eyes were on Connor as he searched for something to say.

"Sure-"

_Beep, Beep, Beep._

Connor briefly closed his eyes before setting down his son and following Jess over to the detector. Moments later, when Lester emerged from his office, he enterred a scene of pure chaos.

Emma was screaming at her parents, yelling "Why don't you ever stay with us?" and stomping her feet, her mothers threats and persuasions having absolutely no affect on her, Jake and Tommy were stomping around and yelling while Anna refused to so much as look at her parents and Chris and Adam attached themselves to Nick's legs. Becker had his three daughters all hanging off his limbs and Emily was trying to wrestle her son from his fathers back while Isobelle stood nearby, sobbing her heart out.

"Whats going on down here?" Lester demanded, and silence fell as all eyes turned on him. All except Anna's, who stubbornly kept her hands over them. Emma was the only one left still yelling and under Lesters dark gaze, she quieted fairly quickly.

"Children, here" He clicked and they immediately fell in line before him, military discipline taking over from their childhood instincts.

"Now, you all know that your parents have very busy lives, yes?" He said, speaking to them as though they were adults, rather than children between the ages of nine and five, "And even though they all love you _very _much," He gave Jenny an _I can't believe I'm saying this _look, "They're all very good at their jobs and are needed. So you need to all be good for Jess, Emily and Claudia while everyone else goes to the Anomaly, Alright?"

Since having children, and changing their priorities, the team had made a rotor of sorts, proclaiming who took which duty at what time. Each time an Anomaly appeared, they all rook shifts on looking after the children. With there being fourteen children, the team often prayed it would be their turn to go and face a giant, scary monster, rather than look after the kids. They weren't particularly _naughty _children, but they were a lot to handle sometimes.

"Yes, sir" Adam said, solemnly and Lester nodded, turning to the team.

"Well, get to it" He said, feeling a little hot under the collar as they all stared at him, mouths slightly agape, "Anomalies don't close themselves, you know"

* * *

><p><strong>Upon reading back over this chapter, it occured to me...thats alot of kids to remember, right? So at the end of each chapter, I'll leave you a list and a few details. Hope you're all interested :] BTW; They aren't going to be kids forever. The story's going to follow them as they grow up, mainly centering around Anna Cutter, a little complication in the making ;]<strong>

* * *

><p>Emma Simone<strong> Temple<strong>

7th January 2012

* * *

><p>Hannah "Anna" Louise<strong> Cutter<strong>

16th April 2012

* * *

><p>Rachel Melanie<strong> Becker<strong>

29th August 2012

* * *

><p>Christopher "Chris"<strong> David Cutter<strong>

10th May 2012

* * *

><p>Bradley Gideon<strong> Anderson<strong>

3rd September 2013

* * *

><p>Mollie Elizabeth<strong> Becker<strong>

4th February 2014

* * *

><p>Jake Stephen<strong> Temple<strong>

30th March 2014

* * *

><p>Thomas "Tommy" Nicolas<strong> Temple<strong>

30th March 2014

* * *

><p>Isobelle Amelie<strong> Anderson<strong>

26th October 2014

* * *

><p>Adam Spencer<strong> Cutter<strong>

22nd June 2015

* * *

><p>Sophie Maddeline<strong> Becker<strong>

5th July 2015

* * *

><p>Patrick "Ricky" Daniel<strong> Quinn<strong>

1st October 2016

* * *

><p>Grace Marie<strong> Cutter<strong>

12th December 2016


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"MUM! I'm fine" Anna insisted as Claudia swatted away her hands and pressed a cool palm to her daughters forehead. Anna glared up at her with dark eyes.

"You're burning up" Claudia said in a matter-of-fact way. Anna groaned.

"I'm fine! Dad, tell her-"

"Claudia-" Nick began, but was cut off.

"Nick, where's the baby thermometer?"

"_Baby _thermometer? I'm _eleven_!"

"In the bathroom, cupboard above the sink" Nick said, sinking down onto the bed to sit beside his daughter, who slumped back against the pillows as Claudia hurried out of the room. "She just worries" He added.

"Too much!" Anna complained, in earnest, "Let her worry about Adam and Gracie!"

"What about Christopher?"

"He worries enough about himself! He spends more time on it than me and uses more gel than Uncle Becker."

Nick laughed as Claudia came back into the room brandishing the thermometer like a sword and Anna stubbornly turned her face away and crossed her arms across her chest. Nick hastily stepped back so Claudia could get a clear shot at her daughter.

"Anna, open up" Claudia demanded, and when Anna did nothing aside from pursing her lips tghter, she raised her voice slightly, "Anna, do as I say"

Nick raised his eyebrows as Anna shook her head at her mother, her eyes steely.

"Hannah Louise Cutter, this can go in either way and personally I'm not fussy" Claudia said, raising her eyebrows in her 'don't mess with me' expression. Anna's eyes widened for a second before she swallowed loudly and opened her mouth. Claudia pressed the thermometer to her daughters tongue and waited a second, grinning in the knowledge that she she had won.

"42" Claudia said in an undertone before giving her daughter a pointed look. Nick looked at Anna and shrugged.

"You're definitely not fine, Anna" He said and she sighed.

"Does this mean I get to spend the day with you both at the ARC?"

"I...suppose" Claudia said, wary of the sudden change in her daughters attitude. At this, Anna practically jumped off her bed.

"You may be my daughter, Anna, but I doubt I'll ever fully understand you" Claudia said as Nick left the room and Anna raced to her closet.

"Gee, thanks a lot mum!" She said sarcastically, pulling a T-shirt over her head.

"You're welcome, darling" Claudia said as she went to the door. "Meet me at the Volvo in ten, I'll make you some toast"

"Thanks, mum" Anna dragged her boots on and Claudia left the room smirking.

It didn't seem like almost eleven years ago since Anna's birth. That was probably because the 33 hour labour still hurt her. Wincing slightly in remembrance of that _long _day and a half, Claudia walked into the kitchen to see Nick trying to convince Grace to eat her porridge at the same time as he tried to tie Adam's laces. A tender smile crossed her lips as she watched him practically bribe Grace, who was pulling a face that could melt butter. She was a beautiful child, with her fathers eyes and thick, strawberry-blonde curls. Right now those blue eyes were wide and tear-filled while her bottom lip stuck out and wobbled alarmingly, a warning of the water works to come. Adam, on the other hand, sat on the floor with his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he wound his laces round and round each other, making no progress aside from succeeding in notting his laces to the point that it looked as if they were beyond repair.

"Sweetheart, here" Claudia said, walking over and bending down so she could do her sons laces, smiling at Nick who gave her a grateful look as he proceeded to turn back to Grace and tell her that if she didn't eat, there'd be no nursery, to which Grace looked fairly happy about. Nick rolled his eyes and picked up his daughters bowl.

"I give up" He muttered to Claudia as he walked past her to the sink ad she laughed, standing up and pulling Adam with her as Chris entered the room, combing through his liberally gelled hair. Nick looked at his wife and she had to turn away to hide a smile.

"Yo, dad, it's go time" Chris said, pulling on his leather jacket.

"Go time?" Claudia repeated, raising her eyebrows and smirking.

"Yeah, ma, it's cool, _hip. _Get with it"

"Hey, you, less of the _ma, _please, thank you" Claudia said, snatching away the cap Chris was about to put on and playfully swatting him with it before putting it backwards on his head. Chris gave an exasperated sigh.

"Mum, that is _not _how you wear a cap," He said, taking it of and situating it sideways on his head. Nick rolled his eyes and immitated his son.

"Son, I thought it was 'go time'" He imitated and Claudia, Adam and Grace all laughed.

"It is, I need to get to school"

"Since when are you so eager?"

"Chrissie's got a girlfriend" Anna said, walking into the kitchen as she wrapped a bobble around her pony tail.

"Do not!" Chris said, shoving his sister who rounded on him, grabbing his wrist and holding him against the wall, pulling his arm up his back.

"Anna!" Nick said, walking over and wrapping his arm around his daughters waist, lifting her up so she released Chris.

"Well he does!" She protested, folding her arms and pouting.

"A girlfriend, eh?" Nick said to his son, who had gone a lovely colour of beetroot.

"No! Annie's a liar!"

"Am not!" Anna said, struggling in her fathers arms.

"I swear, you'd think the two of you were Adam and Grace's age, as oppose to eleven and ten!"

"You," Nick said, pointing to his son as he helped Grace into her coat and Adam kissed his mother goodbye, "Car"

"What about her?" Chris asked, nodding in Anna's direction. She grinned smugly.

"42" She said, and then she winked, "I'm hot"

"Yuck. You are not!" Chris said and their parents rolled their eyes at eachother as Nick leaned over and kissed his wife.

"See you at the ARC" He said, as Grace hugged her mothers leg.

"Drive safe" Claudia smiled, following them to the door, "Have a nice day, you three"

"Bye, mummy!" Grace chimed, from the back seat, stucking her head out of the window and waving.

"See you later, sweetheart" Claudia smiled back, "You two boys"

"Bye, daddy" Anna waved from beside her. Nick pulled out of the driveway, Chris beside him in the passenger seat, Adam in the back and little Grace in a booster seat beside him. Claudia and Anna waved from the doorway until the car turned out of the road. Then Claudia looked down at her daughter, who covered her forehead immediately with her hands. Her mother smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, you" She said, "Lets get to the ARC"

* * *

><p><strong>Hannah "Anna" Louise Cutter<strong>

16th April 2012

* * *

><p><strong>Christopher "Chris" David Cutter<strong>

10th May 2013

* * *

><p><strong>Adam Spencer Cutter<strong>

22nd June 2015

* * *

><p><strong>Grace Marie Cutter<strong>

12th December 2016


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Anna trailed behind her mother into the ARC, peering into each office they went past and smiling at everyone she saw. The kids were regulars at the ARC and everyone knew them. One of the soldiers who went past bent down and produced a lollipop from his pocket for her. Anna took it with a smile, blushing slightly, her shy gene, the one no one could locate a source for, kicking in.

She unwrapped the lolly and was happily enjoying it as they enterred the Ops. Area.

"Hey, little Anna" Connor said, walking over and high-fiving Anna who grinned.

"Hey, Uncle Con" She said and then saluted her Uncle Becker before hugging him and then running over to Jess, who returned the hug she gave her with enthusiasm.

"How come you're not in school, princess?" Uncle Becker asked her and she pouted.

"42" She stated and Claudia rolled her eyes, taking her daughter by the shoulders and steering her daughter to a chair.

"Her temperature is abnormally high and she's clammy-"

"And, of course, being you, you're very worried" Abby teased, walking over to Anna and giving her a one-armed hug due to the large pile of files in her other hand.

"She's over-reacting" Anna said, in a voice that was older than her years. The adults all laughed for reasons that were beyond her understanding and then went about talking of things that Anna didn't understand and also things that she, quite frankly, wasn't interested in. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out her latest book. It was about Vampires and she saw the look her mother gave her, but ignored it. Claudia didn't approve of her eleven year old daughters obsession with 'creatures of the night' and thought she was too young for such things. Nick, on the other hand, said he could see no harm in his daughters interest and so Claudia had ceased to argue about

Regardless of her mothers indignant huff and the folding of her arms, Anna kept her nose buried in her book, acting as though she hadn't even seen her, and soon became engrossed in the general atmosphere of the storyline. The sensuality, the action, the fear. It all enthralled her and she often wished her life would have a little action in it. Instead, her parents worked at some boring Government company. She remembered, at one time, being told that their work was important and she knew that they carried those gun-looking things when they went 'into the field' as they called it, but she never got an answer when she asked about it.

Anna felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and glanced around. They were all looking at her. It was only then that she realised that, instead of reading her book, she'd been staring into space, her eyes glazed over and her face completely expresionless as she contemplated the normality of her life compared to the apparent complexity of her parents jobs.

"Mum" She chanced, cautiously.

"Anna" Claudia said, only half paying attention as she scanned through a file of some sort. _Good_, Anna thought, _maybe I can catch her out._

"You know the ARC," She said.

"Hmm."

"What does it actually..._do_?" All eyes were on her mother, now and Claudia's eyes stopped on the paper, her jaw twitching slightly.

"What do you mean, Anna?" Claudia said, snapping shut the file in her hand and causing Anna, Jess and Abby to all jump violently. "You know that the ARC is a government facility and that your father and I work here with your Aunts and Uncles"

"Yes, but-"

"No but's, Hannah" Claudia said and Anna knew she'd crossed some invisible barrier. The safe side was labelled, _Keep quiet and Don't ask too many questions, _the not so safe side was called, _Oops..._

Sighing, Anna kicked her feet up and rested them on the desk but set them back on the floor immediately as her mother raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something, but Anna's feet were back on the marble floor before Claudia got chance to utter a word. Claudia smiled tightly and went back to reading her file. Anna, however, could sense the change in the atmosphere and watches her Aunt Abby as she looked from Jess to Connor with sharp eyes. Jess was glancing around, too and quickly looked down at the table when Anna caught her eye. Frustrated, Anna let out a long breath.

"Why are you sighing, princess?" Becker asked her, walking over and leaning on the desk beside her. She looked at him and closed her book, the manners her mother had passed down taking over. She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. Then, as a complete contradiction of her previous actions, she shrugged. Becker smirked.

"Bored?" He asked and she nodded. "Hungry?"

"She's not to eat anything!" Claudia said, "If it's a bug, she needs to starve it out of her system"

"I know how sick-y days work, Claudia. I _am _a father" He said, smiling.

"And a brilliant one at that" Jess said, almost involuntarily, as she walked past them, dropping a quick kiss on Becker's cheek. Anna pulled a face, then grinned.

"Hey, Uncle Becker! Uncle Connor! Guess what!" She hollered, and Connor walked over, hands in pockets.

"'Sup, Anna?" He asked.

"Christopher has a girlfriend!" She chimed, and watched in satisfaction as they exchanged a look of pure elation.

"Really? He's got a bird?" Connor said and earned himself a clip around the ear from Jess, Abby and Claudia.

"Birds have wings Connor" Abby said, as Anna pushed herself up to lean over the desk and add a fourth slap to his already reddening ear.

"Thanks, Anna!" He said, sarcastically, massaging his temple.

"You're welcome" She said, cheerily.

"So, a girlfriend, huh? Whats her name?" Becker asked.

"Olivia Moore" Anna said, smiling smugly as the doors on the other side of the room burst open.

"Olivia Moore?" Nick asked, walking over to the group. "Why do I know that name?"

"Probably because its your sons girlfriends name," Connor said, smirking.

"Honestly, Anna," Claudia scolded, "You're terrible. You really shouldn't spread your brothers business"

"Aw, come on, Claudia!" Connor said, "S'not like we're gonna tease him" But there was something in his mischievous expression that said otherwise and Claudia rolled her eyes.

"Fine, just don't tease him too-"

_Beep, Beep, Beep._

"Where is it, Connor?" Nick asked, as he and Jess raced over to the Detector.

"Where;s what?" Anna attempted to race over to her father but got held back by Claudia putting a strong hand on her shoulder.

"Searching..." Jess said.

"It is in...Victoria Square!"

"Damn" Nick cursed under his breath. "Alright, Jess, you stay here with Anna, the rest of you with me"

"Daddy, whats happening?" Anna whined.

"Anna," Claudia said, "Not now, we're working. Stay with Jess"

And with that, they were gone. Leaving a disgruntled looking Anna to turn to her Aunt Jess who sighed and gave her a small smile that she ignored a little cruelly, walking over to the desk and flopping down, completely forgetting about her book.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

That morning, the idea of spending a day entirely at the ARC, no school work, no siblings, no homework at the end of the day, had been Anna's idea of a heaven on earth. The idea, however, of spending a day confined to the Ops. Room with only a very busy, very distracted Jessica for company wasn't half as appealing. For a while, she tried to keep track of what Jess was doing but the multi coloured dots on what appeared to be a map on the screen and the millions of numbers meant less than nothing to her and only succeeding in giving her a headache, so she went back to her book.

However, now the pages held her interest for barely a second. She was up and walking around constantly, irritating people by walking over to their desks and reading over their shoulders. She would get an impatient shooing away and a, "Don't be rude, Hannah!" Or, "Anna, go and entertain yourself!". By the time she'd been around everyone three times, Jess finally stood up, losing her rag.

"Anna, if you don't stop distracting everyone from their work, I'll frog march you to my office and make you stay there!" She said, making Anna, who had been doing cartwheels around the room, rush to her seat and cling to it. Anna had never seen Jess so...stressed. She wondered what had her so worried. The first thought that came into her head was the right one.

"It't mum and dad isn't it? And the others? Jess, whats going on!" She asked, running over to her Aunt as Jess sat back down and pushed her hair out of her face. Jess was silent for a few moments and Anna heard the faint sound of voices come from the little thing she wore in her ear and moments later, Jess visibly relaxed in her seat.

"What? Are they OK now? Are they on their way back? Is Dad coming too?" Anna asked and Jess rolled her eyes, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Anna, calm down. Hot chocolate?" She offered and Anna barely had time to reply with a 'yes' before Jess left the room.

* * *

><p>It seemed an age before they finally got back and Anna ran into her mothers arms the minute she walked through the white doors. When she looked up, Claudia was giving Jess a questioning look and, looking between them Anna saw Jess give a tiny shake of her head and the tension left her mothers body.<p>

"Hello to you too" She said, in an airy tone that, had Anna not just seen the exchange between her mother and her Aunt, she would have thought nothing of. However, having seen the panic in her mothers eyes, Anna didn't buy it for one minute.

"What happened? How come Auntie Jess was worried about you guys?" She said, stepping back from her mother and folding her arms across her chest.

"What, I wasn't worried..." Jess said, weakly as everyone gave her exasperated looks. She rolled her eyes. "Habit, guys. Sorry"

"Anna, nothing was wrong, OK?" Becker said, crouching down in front of her. "Aunt Jess just gets a little...anxious, sometimes"

Jess rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'am not' before going back to sit at the Detector. Anna scowled.

"Fine, don't tell me then!" She said, and she stormed out of the room and off to her mothers office. She knew they'd look for her here soon enough, but she hoped they'd give her some time before they did. She stormed into the office, locked the door and then turned to the desk. It was immaculate, as everything to do with her mother always was. Her hair, her clothes, her make-up. Anna took a lock of her curly hair in her hands and rolled her eyes. Her mothers hair was never as unruly as Anna's. Standing in the office, Anna had every intention of going through it. Reading her mothers files and trying to make sense of some of it. As she took a step towards the desk, she heard deep voices out side the office and paused, standing as still as she possibly could. The glass in the door was glazes, making her image distorted, but Anna knew that if they glanced in here, they'd know she wasn't her mother. Anna's hair was much too light, not too mention she was about two feet smaller than her mum. For a moment, she hardly dared breath. Then she caught wind of some of what they were saying.

"Disgusting things, they make me sick" One very deep, rumbling voice said.

"Yeah, I know. How come the team bring them back here anyway?"

"Dunno, it's the Professor's idea, apparently he's a bit of a nutter"

Indignation reared up inside Anna for she, and she had thought, everyone else in the ARC knew that her father was among the most brilliant men on the planet. He may be a bit eccentric at times, but he was _not, _nor had he ever been, 'a nutter'. She threw open the door and stood with her hands on her hips. There was a hint of surprise on the mens faces and, making a note that they were two of Uncle Beckers soldiers that she often saw around the ARC but didn't know personally, Anna raised an eyebrow.

"My father," She said, measured, "Is _not _a 'nutter'. Nor is he crazy in any kind of way, do you understand me? My father is a more brilliant man than either of you two will ever be and just because he has more brain than brawn doesn't mean you can say what you like about him! Do you understand me?"

The soldiers shared a look of pure astonishment before bursting out laughing.

"Well, little miss Cutter, I'm sure your mother would like to know you've been snooping about her office, wouldn't she?" One of the soldiers said, grinning slyly. Anna just stood glaring up at him.

"She's definitely not psycho, that Mrs. Cutter" The smaller of the two said.

"Definitely not," The taller one said, "Wouldn't mind a bit of that"

"When you've finished making vile remarks about my mother, which, by the way, she _will _be finding out about, along with my 'nutter' father," Anna said, putting her hands on her hips, "I'll be leaving!"

As she turned to leave, however, the larger of the two soldiers put a strong, large hand on her shoulders and began steering her towards the Ops. Area.

"I don't know where you think you're going, young Miss Cutter, but I do believe youre mother would be very interested to know what you were doing in her office, don't you?"

And with a feeling of anticipation and anxiety, Anna let herself be steered, knowing that there was no way she could fight against this soldier because he'd still tell her parents and Anna knew that if she was there, at least she could defend herself a little. Still, that didn't stop the tiny bubble of worry that was stirring in her stomache.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"YOU WHAT!" Claudia screamed at her daughter, who flinched back from her mothers rage. The group stood around her all looked grave and solemn and Anna could barely stand to look any of them in the eye. The look of dissappointment on each face around the circle was almost too much to bear. She personally didn't think she'd done all that much wrong, she'd only been a little curious, after all. And, regardless of her intentions, she had never actually gotten the chance to go through her mothers things and actually doubted whether she'd have had it in herself to do so anyway.

"I...was in your office" Anna said, "And I heard these two soldiers talking-"

"She was about to go through your things, Ma'am" The tall soldier said from behind Anna, who turned and glared daggers up at him. He barely even glanced down at her and she felt indignation rise inside her.

"These two soldiers said daddy is a nutter and they wouldn't mind a peice of mummy!"

The shock on the faces around the group was indescribable and Anna felt as though she were entirely off the hook. She slowly slunk away as Becker started yelling at his soldiers, with Claudia and Cutter throwing in comments here and there. As she made it too the door, Anna heard the word "fired" and then the Anomaly alert started blaring. Knowing that now everyone would be too busy running around like mad-heads to worry about her, Anna decided to get a look at what the soldiers thought was so disgusting. Anna knew where they would be taking whatever was so disgusting. She and all of her cousins had never, ever been allowed in that part of the ARC. It was strictly forbidden and off limits and they had always wondered why. They'd come up with several child-like and over-imaginative stories from space crafts to mind-control, the latter being Tommy's idea, but genuine curiosity had always niggled at the back of Anna's mind, even if the rest of the children were all only trying to pass the time.

There was a series of coridors in this part of the ARC and Anna thought she might well get lost. She actually went so far as to put her cardigan on a hanger in the coridor as a sort of landmark of her journey and then carried on. Finally, she turned a corner and found herself at the mouth of a long coridor. At the end of the coridor was a glass door and throught that, another door. Anna crept forwards and shrank against the wall as someone walked around the corner. Hidden in an encove in the wall and crouching down into the shadows, Anna hardly dared breath as a voice she recognized grew closer and closer.

"Yeah, they'll need to be checked over. I'll do it, you wimps" Auntie Abby said, and Anna wondered what was so important that she hadn't gone to the anomaly. "Just keep Connor away from here, you know how he feels about them"

About what? Anna thought, growing impatient. Abby's jean-ed legs went past and Anna let out a small squeak and threw a hand over her mouth. Abby paused for a minute and glanced around but, thankfully, she didn't look anywhere near where Anna was cowering and just kept walking towards the glass doors. When the first one opened, Anna began to slowly creep forwards and after Abby went through and turned the corner, Anna raced forwards and slipped between the tiny gap and into the second room.

Casting a hurried glance down the coridor, she followed Abby at a safe distance and waited when she went into a room. Anna waited a long time around the corner while Abby was in that room. After what seemed like years, she heard her Aunts voice.

"Yeah, they should be OK, just make sure no one goes near them, they might still be a little venemous"

And then another female voice accompanying it,

"They give me the shivvers! Oh, Abby, don't they just make your skin crawl?" Anna heard her Aunt laugh and then footsteps telling her to hide. She cast a hurried glance around and spotted her only chance. Quickly slipping under the table that stood in the hall for whatever reason, Anna held her breath once more and waited again. Soon after Abby went past, a second woman, whom Anna assumed had been the second to speak, left the room and, after ensuring that they were both a safe distance away, Anna slipped out from her hiding place and crept into the room.

It looked like a science lab, the walls were white washed and as clean as Anna thought humanely possible. There were several tables and less chairs. On one of the tables that was pushed against the wall there were three computers and on the white washed walls there was a pin-board with images of things that were distorted, clippings from newspapers and photographs of animals Anna had never before seen in her life. Some of them, she noticed, she had actually seen before. In movies and on television! Tilting her head to the side, she could see that some of the animals..._creatures _were in places she recognized. The city square, a school near where she lived, the ARC!

Something in the room made a noise and Anna turned to face the table, upon which sat several large cardboard boxes. One of them was moving violently and Anna, cursing the curiosity inside her, began to slowly creep towards it.

_"...might still be a little venemous..."_ Auntie Abby had said, but Anna pushed the thought from her mind as she reached out a hand towards the lid of the box. Gripping it and taking one more step forwards, she pulled it back. And felt a wave of terror shoot through her.

She'd never been scared of spiders before, but then again, she could hardly call this thing a _spider._ It was about a foot long and had legs as thick as her upper arm. And as she thought that, it used those legs to climb up out of the box. Frozen in terror, Anna could barely get it out of her to scream, but she did. And as she did, the spider gave a jolt of shock and jumped at her, causing her to lose her balance and bat at it, trying to get it off her, all the while Abby's words in her mind. Anna let out a whimper as the other boxes started to rattle, knowing what was in them. They moved along the slippery surface of the desk and Anna let out another uncontrollable scream as the spider that was already crawling all over her sank its fangs into her arm.

By now Anna was sobbing and as the other boxes crashed to the floor, sending their many legged contens flying across the room and then scrambling over to her and their mate, Anna thought she might die of terror, disgust and nausea.

_"...might still be venemous...still be venemous...venemous..."_

She lost consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

A clock chimed somewhere and Anna raised her head to glance around her. No one was making a sound, the breathing bodies around her barely moving aside from a wrist here and there. Up at the front, a bold woman sat looking down at the congregation and as she caught sight of the time, Anna felt a slight panic well up inside her. She looked back down at the paper in front of her. Six lines. _Six lines? _How on earth could she only have written six lines in the space of an hour and forty minutes? As the woman at the front stood up, she frantically tried to scribble down as much as she could, in writing that almost made her want to throw the paper away just because she, herself could barely read what she had written. The headmistress neared Anna's tiny, square, rickety desk and hovered over her whilst Anna pretended not to notice. Then something caught her eye and Anna let out a scream. A spider!

Shuffling her desk back, Anna tried to move as far away from it as was humanely possible. People were looking over to see what all the fuss was about, teachers were trying to keep things calm but Anna was still shuffling and screaming. Ever since she was eleven years old she'd been terrified of spiders. The details of why, however, were sketchy in her mind. She knew it was something to do with the ARC, but her mother said that in some situations where people got scared or had a shock, their brain blocked out certain pieces of their memory. Anna thought that maybe she didn't _want _to remember.

Someone in the desk beside her stomped on the spider and Anna relaxed a little and looked up behind her, hearing the people around her snicker.

"Ahem!" Mrs Hansen said and Anna, resigned to the fact that she was in serious trouble, sighed and handed over the paper. After a sweeping, unimpressed glance at it, the head mistress turned on her tail and exited the room. Anna lay her head in her hands. She felt something light his her square in the back and turned in her chair. Sitting in the middle of her exam hall was a super model. Well...it wasn't, but she could be. Emma Temple. The most stunning girl in high school. Though, Anna was a close second. Both had sparkling blue eyes, though Anna's were the colour of periwinkle, almost purple, Emma's light as the sky on a winters morning, creeping through snow white clouds. Anna's hair, which had darkened from it's honey blonde to a shade somewhere between that and her mothers red, hung in corkscrew ringlets around her face, making her look younger than her years. Emma's, on the other hand, was still as pale as it had been when she was a young child. Behind Emma was her other best friend, Rachel Becker. And at the minute, they were both glaring at people who were laughing unkindly at her. Anna felt a sudden heat of gratitude for her friends well up inside her.

Rachel was one of those people who had...something about her that just made you smile. Rachel was the shy one. The one who often got ignored because she didn't have very much to say. When she _did _say something, it was always incredibly wise and beyond her years. Emma talked with her hair, almost every sentence accompanied by a flick and a girlish giggle. Guys liked to listen to Emma. Anna just talked, and people listened.

Rachel, though, wasn't any less pretty than her cousins, she was just a lot more quiet about it. Straight, blonde hair that fell to her shoulder blades and pretty green eyes. She was a lot like her mother. Except that, they had heard, when she was younger Jess had liked to wear skirts. Short skirts. Rachel _never _wore skirts, as a rule. Always either jeans or shorts, never skirts, unless she was in school, and even then she always wore tights. Which was odd...because Abby hardly ever wore them...and yet...Emma was never out of them.

At this moment, she was wearing one that barely left anything to the imagination, with knee-high socks pulled all the way up and patent leather flats. Her school shirt was open to the second button, her tie loose. Glancing around, Anna saw several males around the room practically drooling over their own work. She wondered if any of them had written more than three lines. They might look, but none of them ever got anywhere with Emma. She was a tease, truth be told, but when she _did _find a boy she was interested in, it never lasted. Rachel was the same. She was too sweet and quiet for some guys. Anna, on the other hand, fell fast and hard.

Her boyfriend, Max Astbury, was one of the guys she had known her longest, aside from her brothers and cousins, of course. When they were younger, he'd had a mental crush on her, though Anna had been completely oblivious until they'd gone up to high school together. Then he'd been sweet, not taking anything for granted. Back then, Max had loved her and had told her so. However, as they both grew, they changed. Anna changed from the pretty little girl into a beautiful, near mirror image of her mother, and Max grew into an arrogant yet to-die-for handsome young man with black hair that fell into his eyes, eyes as green as moss.

As soon as they'd hit year 10, the year before their last, everyone had started referring to them as Anna-and-Max. As one, a unit, because they had been together for so long. They were the power couple of the school. Anna wondered if that was going to change.

He was still sweet to her, but lately the relationship had become more of a show thing and Anna wondered whether he even cared about her the same way he used to. She wondered whether it was all just an act, whether he'd become so arrogant thanks to those dashing good looks that now she was more of a trophy girlfriend than anything. Plenty of boys would practically give their right arm to date Anna and she knew it. But she wasn't going to act on any of their offers because she didn't want anything else, she had Max. Didn't she?

She was still reflecting on this as she left the hall and Emma linked an arm through hers. Rachel linked her other one.

"You OK, Annie-Lou?" Emma teased, giving her the nickname her mother had christened her with as a child. Anna had always hated it.

"Shut up, Emma!" Anna said, shoving her cousin playfully.

"Was it the spider?" Emma said, and Anna shook her head.

Is it Max?" Rachel asked in her quiet, calming manner. Sighing, Anna nodded. Immediately, the joking manner disappeared and Emma and Rachel led Anna over to one of the benches that stood outside the school. Shooing some first years away, Emma cleared it for them and they sat down.

"Spill" Emma said, softly.

"Spill what? There's nothing _to _spill. We're just...not the same anymore"

"What do you mean? You've been with the guy for four years-"

"Exactly." Anna said, giving her cousin a pointed look.

"Well, wha-Oh!" Emma said, a glint coming to her eye. "Is Max getting a little restless?"

The smirk on her face said she was teasing but the glint in her eye didn't quite mask the concern bubbling beneath the surface. That's what happened when you grew up with someone, literally from birth. You learned to see beneath the façade they put on for other people, or maybe you never even saw it, because by the time they themselves learned to put it up, you already knew the person. Anna, knowing exactly what her cousin meant, rolled her eyes.

"_No,_ he is not, at least...I don't think he is...he hasn't said anything" Anna trailed off thoughtfully and Rachel shot Emma a look.

"I'm sure he's not"

"We've talked about..._that, _you know? We've both agreed that we want to...to wait a while, at least until we're both of age"

"Well, Anna, you've got another nine months before you turn sixteen-"

"Yeah, and then add another three months onto that...you're looking at another year before you can have sex, hunny, do you think Max is gonna wait that long?" Emma said, pointedly.

"Well...he...he loves me..." Anna started weakly, "And I love him...

"Maybe he doesn't think so," Emma stated, "Look, I'm not saying completely put out, I'm just saying...give him a taster, let him watch the previews to he wants to stick around for the movie"

* * *

><p>It was because of that conversation that, that very night, Anna was sitting at her dressing table, shaking from head to toe, waiting for Max to arrive. Tapping her fingernails on the wood, Anna looked at herself in the mirror. She was incredibly nervous. She was never, ever nervous about Max. They'd been together for so long that everything was natural. If they were walking, they held hands. Anna always held Max's left hand, because she was always on his left. If they were sitting down, she leant into him and he held her. That was just the way it was, so natural, so simple. So...cliche. So...rehearsed.<p>

Thinking this, all of a sudden Anna was more excited for tonight than she was nervous. A smile quirked her lips, which she added a second coat of red lipstick too and she fluffed her hair. Behind her, a door swung open and she turned around.

"Hey, Anna" Max said, smirking as he leant on cthe doorframe, looking her over. Trying to look as nonchalant as possible in her denim hotpants and vest top, Anna smiled back.

"Hello"

Then she went into his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

"Evening," Nick Cutter said, walking through the front door and closing it behind him. There were shouts of "Hey" from the lounge, where, down the hallway, he could see his three younger children sitting. He walked through into the lounge and kissed Grace on her blonde head, she smiled up at him.

"Hey, dad" Adam said, high-fiving his father.

"Good day at work?" Chris asked, doing the same thing.

"It was alright" Nick answered, vaguely, as Claudia walked into the living room, wiping her hands on a tea-towel. She smiled and Nick kisses her gently.

"Hello, darling" She said. "Anything interesting happen after I left work?" There was something in her expression that Nick understod and he gave a minute shake of his head. Since the children had been old enough to understand things and ask questions, Claudia and Nick had used a sort of code to determine what each of them meant. Usually, though, they were so in tune that they could communicate through simple expressions. Now, the look on Nick's face told Claudia that there had been no Anomaly since she left the ARC that afternoon at 2;30 so she could be home for the children.

"So, whats for dinner, oh dear one?" Nick asked.

"Chicken Parmesan" Claudia said, turning and going to exit the room. Before she did, she cast a glance at her eldest son and cuffed him around the back of the head.

"Hey!" Chris said, indignantly. "What the hell was that for?"

"Less of the Hell, Mr!" Nick said, firmly while Claudia pointed to Chrisophers feet, which were comfortably resting on her coffee table.

"That table was a wedding gift from your grandparents!" She said, and Chris took down his feet, massaging the back of his head. Claudia, looking vaguely satisfied, left the room and Nick gave his son a look.

"What?"

"I don't like that table" He said, slipping a five pound note into his sons hand. Chris looked confused for a moment and then grinned, casting a quick glance at the door before putting his feet back up on the table.

"Atta boy" Nick said, under his breath, and then he followed his wife out into the kitchen.

"So," Nick said, casually, "Where's Anna?"

"She went upstairs as soon as she came in, didn't say much more than hello to me" Claudia said, while pouring pasts into a pan of boiling hot water.

"Hm, I wonder if she had a bad day at school" Nick said, removing his jacket and laying it over the back of a chair, earning him a reproachful glare from his wife. Trying to hide a smirk, he picked it back up and went out into the hall to put it into the closet.

"No," Claudia replied, "She just hates me"

"She does not hate you," Nick said, walking into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around his wifes waist from behind, "You're her mother"

"Pretty sure I hated my mother at her age," Claudia replied, beating the eggs she was making a little too hard. Nick put his hand over hers, halting her, and kissed her neck.

"She doesn't hate you, she's a teenager"

"Daddy, how was work?" Grace asked, repeating Chris' question and walking into the kitchen, causing her parents to quickly break apart. She was so different to how Anna had been at her age. She still had the wide, baby eyes and the dimples, the same as her sister, but there was something much more mischievous about the youngest Cutter girl.

"It was OK, angel, thank you" He said, "How was school?"

"Great! I made the first years cheer-leading squad!"

Nick groaned inwardly. The last thing he wanted was for his eleven year old daughter to be a cheerleader. Why couldn't she be on the football team, or the netball team, or the swimming team, like Anna? He'd been to matches and he'd seen what his goddaughter, Emma, wore when she did cheers and the last thing on earth he wanted Grace to do was dress like that, but he put on a brave face.

"Hmm...we'll talk about that later" He said, and Grace rolled her eyes. "Have you seen your sister?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs" Grace said.

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know but I let Max in earlier"

Claudia's head snapped up at those words and she and Nick locked eyes.

"How much earlier, Gracie?" Claudia asked, laying down the last set of knives and forks she was putting out. Nick was staring up the stairs and Claudia anxiously moved towards the door, watching her husbands expression carefully. Grace looked between her parents, slightly puzzled.

"Uh...about a half-hour ago...why?"

"Nick!" Claudia called out as Cutter leaped the first few steps and began racing up the stairs. She ran up, a few steps behind him, and saw the same scene as he did when they entered the room.

Anna and Max were sitting on the bed, both having discarded their shirts. They had obviously been kissing because Anna's arms were still around Max's neck, though they were both frozen in shock, staring at the door where her parents stood. Anna was turning a shade of beetroot and, finally coming to her senses, she scrambled back from Max and pressed her back to the wall, grabbing her discarded T-shirt to cover herself with.

Nick looked as though he was getting ready to steam from the ears.

"You need to leave. Now." Claudia said, coldly, to Max, whom she had always liked. He looked unsurely at Anna, who was staring at her father, and Claudia raised her voice, "I said now!"

Max jumped violently, scrambled as Anna had, for his shirt, and then tip toed towards the door, where Nick and Claudia were still standing. He didn't take his eyes off Nick as he passed the man, and Claudia glared down at him. He scampered down the stairs and, moments later, the front door slammed, leaving Claudia and Nick with a highly ashamed looking Anna.

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know! I'm sorry for the, uh...two month delay between chapters. (I honestly thought it was more than that O.o)<strong>

**Hope you like this chapter though, more coming soon, I promise!**

**Stephanie xxx**


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